The venue was formerly known as the Royale Theater, right from the time it was built in 1927 up to the time it was renamed on May 9, 2005, (except for a short time from 1934 to 1936 – when it was known as the John Golden Theater). Originally designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, the theater was built by the Chanin Brothers – the real estate magnates. The Bernard B. Jacobs Theater was designed in the ‘modern Spanish style.’ It had, what was known as the Moorish by-way-of-Spain façade. It was a part of the three-theater complex, with the then Royale Theater being mid-sized.

The interior of the theater, then Royale, is typically of neo-Spanish style, and the vaulted ceiling has ‘Lover’s of Spain’ – a mural by Willy Pogany.

Bernard B. Jacobs Theater

The Royale Theater (now the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater) opened on January 1, 1927, with a show called the Piggy – also known as I Told You So. Today, there is no detail what the show was about. Its first hit was in 1928, with Mae West in the title role in Diamond Lil. The control of the management passed on to the Shubert Organization in 1930. For a short while, John Golden leased the theater and renamed it after himself. The Shubert Organization bought the theater in 1936, renamed it the Royale Theater again, and leased it to CBS Radio until 1940.

The mid-sized theater has presented both plays and musicals. It was here that in 1954, Julie Andrews made her Broadway debut in The Boy Friend, and Julia Roberts her Broadway debut in March 2006, in one of the lead roles in Three Days of Rain.

Bernard B. Jacobs Theater has seen significant theatrical shows and performances. The decades from 1950s to 1970s saw Gloria Swanson in Nina in 1951, Lawrence Olivier in The Entertainer in 1958, Bette Davis in The Night of the Iguana in 1961, and Grease in 1972, which was transferred to the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater. Grease surpassed Fiddler on the Roof as the longest running show on Broadway.

In 1980, Mary Tyler Moore starred in Whose Life Is It Anyway? Song and Dance in 1985, featured Bernadette Peters - a Tony Award winning performance, Madonna debuted on Broadway in David Mamet’s Speed the Plow in 1988. The turn of the century saw Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen in 2000, the acclaimed revival of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 2000, and the Pulitzer Prize winning Anna in the Tropics in 2003, among others.

The theater seats 1078, with 612 in the orchestra, 420 in the front and rear mezzanines, 16 in the boxes and 30 in the pit. There are additional 2 places for wheelchairs and 35 standing room places.

Bernard B. Jacobs Theater tickets for this mid-sized theater are always at a premium. We, at Reedstickets have always been able to satisfy our very regular, as well as new, customers with the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater tickets of their choice.